Sustainable capacity building of the rice value chain in Africa is essential in achieving the rice self-sufficiency and poverty alleviation. The breeding capacity enhancement has also been at the heart of AfricaRice’s mandate. Therefore, the Korea-Africa Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI) has concentrated breeding capacity enhancement for young breeders or breeding technicians of national research institutes in the KAFACI member countries. Four-month trainings have been conducted at the Regional Training Center located in Saint Louis, Senegal. The actual practice training is as follows; First is to learn practical skills and techniques of key aspects of rice breeding which are field preparation and layout, sowing, transplanting, fertilizer application, weed control, water management, hybridization/crossing, selection, yield and yield components determination, and rice palatability testing. Second is to learn some theoretical aspects of plant breeding through lectures including basic principles of breeding, evaluation for biotic and abiotic stresses, and statistical analysis. Third is to learn about the accurate use of field and lab equipment for rice breeding. Forth is to learn about proper scientific reporting and presentation. The courses were organized twice per year following two rice cultivation seasons in Senegal. From 2019, a total of 24 trainees participated in the 4 month courses. We believe they have acquired the basic knowledge and skills to implement rice breeding activities indpendently in their countries.

The Korea-Africa Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI) has been cooperating with AfricaRice since 2014 for the eradication of hunger and poverty in Africa through sustainable agriculture and its industrialization. At first, rice breeding activities for staple food production started with KAFACI member countries by sharing high-yielding Tongil-type rice breeding lines and varieties. The Africa Rice Development Partnership project entitled “Enhancement of high-yielding rice germplasm and breeding capacity of rice producing countries in Africa” is implemented for the period from 2016 to 2025 with three phases. The actual rice breeding activities have been conducted by applying anther culture haploid breeding technology in the laboratory and field of AfricaRice Saint-Louis center. The 1,547 elite lines selected through participatory variety selection were distributed to 21 national breeders of KAFACI member countries. These lines derived from the 1,181 cross combination and 34,616 breeding lines on Korea and AfricaRice germplasm crossed. Among them 11 new Tongil-type rice varieties have been selected and registered in the national variety catalogue of Senegal, Mali, Rwanda, Malawi, and Tanzania.

Climate change has severely impacted food security and agricultural productivity in Africa. The scarcity of rains and the severe drought affecting the Sub-Saharan and the horn of Africa have impoverished the soil, and water resources, and have caused the death of livestock in countries like Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger, and etc. On the other hand, the usage of chemical fertilizers for soil and crop nutrients is becoming an economic and environmental burden for African farmers. Thus, the necessity to implement sustainable agricultural technics to maintain and improve soil fertility by applying natural nutrients obtained from livestock manure while livestock is fed with crop residues in a single agricultural area. Although this farming system offers environmental and economic benefits to farmers, particularly in the rural and semi-urban areas, its implementation is very low in Africa because of: 1) constant migration of herders in the search of green pasture for livestock, making the collection of manure difficult, 2) religious and traditional beliefs considering animal waste as not being pure to be applied on crops, 3) conflicts between herders and farmers over the control of water resources and arable lands, making the cohabitation of livestock and crops in one farmland unlikely, and 4) the habit of crop residues burning, which is not just harmful to the environment but also a waste of natural livestock fed. Based on the reviewed literature, the Korea-Africa Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI) plans to develop and implement an integrated crop-livestock project in KAFACI member countries with the mission 1) to diffuse the importance of using natural nutrients for improving soil fertility and enhancing crop and livestock productivity in Africa, 2) to train researchers and farmers on new technologies for manure treatments, 3) to demonstrate the benefits of using livestock manure for soil fertility, crops nutrients, while using crop residues as livestock nutrients, and 4) contribute to enhancing sustainable agriculture in Africa through the reduction of greenhouse gas by reducing livestock’s waste and crop residues burning.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) is a central African country, abundant with large and various agro-ecological landscapes suitable for the cultivation of various crops, water resources, and a young manpower. However, the country is facing a severe food crisis, exposing around 27 million people, among which 4 million undernourished children to famine according to the World Food Program. To better understand the paradox of the country with huge agricultural potential being one of the countries with the largest number of people in food distress in 2022, we reviewed the DR Congo's current agricultural potentials and challenges, and it was observed that the country's low agricultural productivity is mainly due to low governmental human and technological investment in agricultural research, which is characterized by insufficient training of researchers, limited research budget, and lack of updated technologies. Also, the country's immensity and poor transport infrastructures make the movement and commercialization of crops difficult in the country. Based on the data reviewed, the Korea-Africa Food & Agriculture Cooperation Initiative, an organization in which the DR Congo is a member country, proposes a reform of the country's agricultural policies 1) to set a proper vision for the country's Agricultural research and productivity, 2) to design a proper structure assigning the roles of every organization involved in agriculture at the national or provincial level, 3) to improve the government investment in young researchers' capacity building and motivation, 4) to define how cooperation with international organizations could contribute to the enhancement of the country's agricultural development.